


Of What Might Have Been

by zarabithia



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Alternate Universe, Community: au_bingo, Community: comment_fic, Community: dcu_freeforall, Fix-It, Gen, Nakama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-18
Updated: 2011-01-18
Packaged: 2017-10-14 22:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/154208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason joins the Titans after a falling out with Bruce.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of What Might Have Been

The dreams were always different.

Sometimes, there was a large man in a caricature of the Bat suit, and Dick knew in his dreams it was supposed to be Jason. It was pure dream logic, because nothing about the man resembled Jason at all - not his actions, not his words, not his movements.

It did resemble Bruce's greatest fear, Dick supposed, and the reason Jason was fired.

Other times, the dreams made far more sense. They included a grave that Dick had never stood over, with Kory on one side and Barbara on the other, and the name of the youngest Robin engraved on the rock in front of them.

Dick recognized it as _his_ greatest fear, because it was always the dream that jerked him from his sleep.

Unlike the other dreams, this one Dick understood because he knew how true it could have been. If Alfred hadn't called the day that Jason had been fired, if the Titans had been on a mission that day...

Getting Jason to come with him back to the Titans hadn't been easy, because the angry, determined kid had been so sure of himself, so anxious to prove that he didn't need any of them...

Dick had recognized all the signs, in all their familiarity. He'd been just as angry and just as hurt - wasn't that why he stayed so far away from the Manor these days? Wasn't that why he and Jason barely had a relationship, in the first place?

The Titans were the only thing in the world that soothed the kind of rejection that being dismissed by Batman caused. Dick knew that his team was the only thing that kept him sane at times. That's why he had invited Jason to be a part of it. Because part of him might still be jealous of the kid, but Dick knew that _Robin_ needed the Titans to keep them grounded.

Just as Dick knew that in his dreams, he always failed at giving that support to Jason.

Which was why, after every mission that didn't go quite right, Dick awoke, choking down a cry at the raw promise of what might have been, with the firm hand of Kory on his chest, telling him that it was going to be okay.

It was also why he kissed her on the cheek before slipping out of bed and walking down the corridor to check on his little brother.

Sometimes, Jason pretended not to notice him and pretended to be asleep. Sometimes, Jason gave him attitude for being a nosy bastard. Sometimes, Jason looked like he was grateful to be woken up from his dreams, too.

Tonight was one of the latter occasions. "You look like shit, Grayson."

"Thanks, Little Wing." It was meant as sarcasm, but Dick couldn't quite muster the tone to make it work.

"Anytime. You know, if you're going to stalk me in my sleep, you could at least put a shirt on first. The whole half-naked deal is kind of fucking creepy."

"The half-naked deal works better for sparring," Dick answered lightly.

"Yeah, you'd think so. Did I ever mention how much I hated not having any goddamn pants in the middle of Gotham winter?"

"A few times," Dick chuckled. "You up for a round of sparring with me, or not?"

Jason shrugged, which wasn't an answer - sometimes it meant no, sometimes it meant that Jason didn't care, sometimes it meant that Jason was grateful not to have to get back to sleep, sometimes it meant he was pleased to be asked.

But this time, the shrug was accompanied by Jason slipping out of bed. "Sure, why not?"

"You going to put on a shirt?"

"You kidding? Look what walking around this place half-naked does for your sex life. I should clearly follow in my big brother's example," Jason mocked as they began to walk towards the training room.

The "big brother" part was still a little heavy on the sarcasm, but it was more than had been there a month before, so Dick would take it.

"Am I going to have to have _discussions_ with some of my teammates about their intentions with my little brother?" Dick asked, in his best Alfred imitation.

It got him half a smile. "I will kill you in your sleep."

"Noted."

"Speaking of, if I had someone that looked like your girl in my bed, I would _not_ be wandering the halls and stalking other people in their sleep."

"Well, I'm weird like that," Dick answered with a shrug. "By the way...I'm really glad you're here, Jason."

The pause lasted four steps. "Yeah, me too."


End file.
